Gucci Leadership to Walk,
But Not Down the Runways

By

Joseph Schuman The Wall Street Journal Online

Updated Nov. 4, 2003 4:30 p.m. ET

Domenico de Sole and Tom Ford, the management and designer masterminds behind the rebirth of Gucci Group, are walking away, unable to reach an agreement over corporate and artistic control of the company with Pinault Printemps Redoute, its majority owner. Their failure to strike a deal means French fashion-and-retail conglomerate PPR will most likely succeed in taking full control of Gucci next spring, but such an outcome may be a Pyrrhic victory if it comes without some of Gucci's most valuable if intangible assets, the...